Early this week, my ministry partners and I were having one of our Monday morning conversations when someone brought up the memory of the saying, “Kilroy was here.” I couldn’t help but be transported back to my childhood when Dad first told me about the phrase. Dad was stationed in Greece during World War II and was familiar with the stories surrounding Kilroy. To be sure, it’s been decades since I have heard a reference to Kilroy but I remember Dad telling me it was a famous “meme” from WWII, before the word meme ever even existed.
For those of you too young to know about this cultural phenomenon, Kilroy, according to some reports, was a fictional character. Soldiers around the world would write the phrase, “Kilroy was here…” to provide camaraderie and motivation for fellow soldiers as they fought through the war. The phrase, usually drawn in white chalk, was sometimes accompanied by a drawing of a man peering over a wall with his fingers visible. He always had a big nose and provided some relief for the troops. You never knew where the next image of Kilroy would appear!
But it came to pass that some of the Kilroy artwork occurred in places which were inaccessible to regular servicemen. Sometimes, images would appear on ships, between the inner and outer hull of the vessel. How did people get there to add this meme? Well, enter James Kilroy, a ship inspector. It turns out that when ships were being built, welders and others on duty would have their work checked by various inspectors. Upon completion of the inspection, a chalk mark would be put on the work signifying how much had been done and completed. It didn’t take the workers long to realize that they could erase the white marks and get paid again for the work that had already been completed. As the story goes, Kilroy, rather than a white chalk mark, would add the phrase, “Kilroy was here” so as to make it impossible to erase the work and collect twice. This, according to legend, is how the whole movement started but I think, in all honesty, that this is lost to history and we may never know for sure how the Kilroy phenomenon really started.
Since then, there have been a number of similar attempts to create motivation and humor around the world. Remember ‘Flat Stanley?” He was a rather small cardboard cut-out and he traveled around the world with people who took him in their suitcase and then propped him up in some photo op while visiting some obscure place in the world. He became quite famous – like Kilroy!
In fact, when we first moved to Indiana, into our first home, there was a message from one of the former occupants, a young daughter, on the wall of her closet. Apparently, she had hated Indiana and wrote that message in Kristin’s closet. Of course, this wasn’t the kind of thing that would be an encouragement to our seven year old daughter. Eventually, the sting of it passed and when we finally moved out to a larger home, Kristin left a large, “Kristin was here” message above the door inside her closet. I really couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. And every home that Kirstin has moved out of since then has a similar message above the inside of the closet door… Who knew it would have such an impact on her!
It occurs to me in each of these examples that somebody “WAS” here… But you know what strikes me is the fact that God “IS” here, every moment, every day. The Scripture clearly lets us know that God is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (always present, everywhere). And there are many verses that affirm that God is near, believers can call on Him at any time for help and that we will spend eternity with God in heaven.
But one of my favorite psalms speaks to the issue of someone trying to get away from God. What then? Is that even possible? Well, apparently not, at least according to the psalmist. Tonight’s verse is taken from Psalm 139. This psalm speaks to the omniscient of God, His power and His presence. We are told, in Psalm 139:7-12, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
Clearly, other than when we are guilty of something that we don’t want God to know about (by the way, God already knows), this passage of Scripture should be a comfort and encouragement for us. Not only can we depend on God to be there, notice from the verses that God is already wherever we are heading. How awesome is that!
My encouragement this evening is that God yearns for us to be in His presence. He will not settle to be separated from us. He is with us every microsecond of every day. We will never be able to say that “God was here” – only that “God is here!” My prayer is that we will realize the dependence that we have on the Father and the other members of the Trinity. Life as we know it would not be possible without the continual presence of God to guide and lead us in His perfect will. And this will happen into eternity – forever! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…